Review: "The Brightest Fell" and "Night and Silence," by Seanan McGuire

[redheadedfemme]

The October Daye series is a good example of an author's evolution, and giving the author room and time to improve. The first book, Rosemary and Rue, released in 2009 at the start of the urban fantasy craze, is serviceable enough, and perfectly adequate. It is not outstanding. But keep reading the series, and you can trace the author's improvement in craft, prose, characterization and plotting. One of the greatest pleasures in reading this series, in fact, is how the seeds carefully planted in the earlier books spring to surprising and/or noxious life in the later ones.

The main character has changed a lot over the course of the series. Toby once wanted to be human, or as human as possible for a part-Fae changeling; now she embraces her Fae blood and powers. (Although if I were her, I would magick up some way to carry bags of replacement blood with me wherever I went, as she seems to lose gallons of it over the course of a book.) She once prided herself on needing no one, rejecting help, and pushing other people away; now she has a painstakingly built found family she is fiercely loyal to and will fight to maintain. She has even developed a friendship with her terrifying aunt, the Luidaeg (who is one of my favorite characters).

As Toby's character has deepened and expanded, so has the author's world. This book takes her into the depths of Faerie and brings her face to face with the older half-sister she never knew. It also reunites her with the person who betrayed her, Simon Torquill, who gets an affecting character arc of his own. There is a lot of trauma in this book, realistically portrayed, and it doesn't exactly end on a hopeful note.

(I also appreciated the inclusion of a side novella at the end, exploring a different character. This story, "Of Things Unknown," is an interesting blend of Faerie and cyberpunk.)

This is book number 11 of the series; as of right now, two books remain. I think McGuire is lining everything up and getting her ducks in a row for the finale. I'm looking forward to it.




This book follows on the heels of book #11, The Brightest Fell, and deals with the consequences and fallout of the events in that book. As a matter of fact, you could sum up the entire October Daye series with those two words: "consequences" and "fallout." It's rather refreshing to read a story that takes everything that has occurred previously into account, and demonstrates that these characters have to pay the piper. (It must be hellishly difficult for the author to keep everything straight, but I think Seanan McGuire is doing an admirable job.) There is a revelation in this book that upends pretty much everything that has gone before, and I presume the next book will deal with this. The extra side novella included, "Suffer a Sea-Change," tells the story of the climax of this book from another POV, and is a fascinating coda. I also appreciate that the characters are not recovering quickly from the events of the previous book, and in fact Toby's fiance Tybalt is suffering from a form of PTSD and has to take time away from his kingly duties to heal. To let a male character be vulnerable, and admit to needing help, just shows the author's increasing skill with her characters, and the depths of their characterization. "Suffer a Sea-Change" also gives us some nice insights into the Luidaeg. On the whole, this is a very satisfying story.